The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry

Energy efficiency: the foundation of the climate transition

I’m preparing for a trip to your fine nation later this month to speak at the National Energy Efficiency Conference in Melbourne, so I’ve been reading up on Australian energy policy debate. It’s been fascinating.

I still have a lot to learn about your energy system, but so far one thing stands out: the discussion in Australia seems overly focused on the transition underway on the supply side of the market.

Don’t get me wrong – the decarbonisation of the world’s energy supply is crucial, and you won’t find a stronger advocate for renewables than me. Way back in the 1990s, I installed many small, remote PV and wind systems with my own two hands, and trained others to do the same.

More recently I ran two of California’s signature renewables programs – the California Solar Initiative and Self-Generation Incentive Program.

However, focusing solely on the move to low carbon generation without pursuing demand side opportunities in an ambitious, systematic way actually makes the transition harder.

Energy efficiency and demand response are just as important to the energy transition as renewables are, as we’ve learnt in California. Today’s technology helps us utilise energy smartly; and indeed the least expensive and cleanest unit of energy is the one not needed at all.

Energy efficiency has been a central contributor to California’s energy mix since the 1970s.∗Efficiency is responsible for an annual reduction in statewide electric consumption of 90 TWh (Figure 1), the equivalent of 30 percent of the state’s current electricity consumption and enough to power around eight million households.

California’s per capita electricity use has remained flat since the mid-1970s, despite a fourfold increase in real economic output, larger homes and the proliferation of consumer appliances and electronics.

Since 2000, the state’s overall carbon emissions are down 8 percent while its economy has grown by 28 percent. California’s deliberate, consistent focus on energy efficiency has played an important role in these successes.

Going forward, the California legislature and Governor Brown have established a goal to double the flow of efficiency savings by 2030. The estimated impacts of this doubling effort are shown in Figure 2. Achieving the goal will see per capita consumption decline around 25 percent by 2030. California’s suite of energy efficiency activities includes:

Building energy efficiency standards. The 2019 Standards update will require residential new construction to have advanced building shells, high-performing water heating and mechanical systems, all-LED lighting and, for the first time, sufficient self-generation (typically PV) to offset all electric load. Incremental costs are shown to be cost-effective.

Appliance efficiency standards. California has explicit authority to develop efficiency standards where national standards do not exist. Recent standards adopted include general service LEDs, computers, and battery chargers. Many appliance standards are currently in development (e.g. industrial fans and blowers, certain compressors and pumps, and room air conditioners)……

Modern energy management complements renewable energy supply

Highly efficient products and practices increasingly bundle with digital communication and control features to support demand-side responsiveness to the momentary needs of the grid. Good design of buildings and industrial processes, together with advanced energy management systems, can provide both beautifully tailored performance for customers and valuable and much-needed grid services that aid seamless incorporation of renewable energy into the supply mix.

Energy efficiency optimises the distribution grid

Energy efficiency frees capacity in the distribution grid, allowing new electric loads to be served with only moderate added investment. That ‘headroom’ will be essential, since California’s clean energy path will include widespread electrification: pervasive adoption of electric vehicles, heat pumps, induction cooking and other electric end use technologies. Electrification brings additional benefits, such as avoiding both investment in new retail gas distribution infrastructure and the risks to health and safety from indoor combustion.

The macho men who make the nuclear killing decisions – theme for February 2018

These are the macho men who are deciding how to spend the American tax-payers’ $trillions that are not being spent on health, education, essential services, essential welfare, environment .

And this is their palace – the Pentagon, far away from the ordinary things of ordinary lives.

America is the worst – but the same scenario is being played out by the macho men in Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Britain, and of course, North Korea.

Working people pay for this – with their taxes.

And – the insanity of the system is that very many of those working people depend on the killing machine for their jobs – making a living now, in the service of the system that will kill their children.

For many macho men – the satisfaction of knowing that they can kill millions of “enemy” children, women and men is apparently worth it all. A strange satisfaction -for, even if they survive themselves – what will victory really look like?

Is it not time that women took over the decision making?

Standing Strong – How South Australian won the campaign against an international high-level nuclear waste dump